Species of Sea Turtles frequenting Guatemala's coastal waters.
Green Sea Turtle
Green turtles are found mainly in tropical and subtropical waters. It is one of the largest sea turtles, and like other sea turtles, green sea turtles migrate long distances between feeding grounds and hatching beaches. It gets to measure about 60-100 cm long.
It is also known as the black sea turtle, or Pacific green turtle. Its name comes from the usually green fat found beneath its carapace.
The Olive Ridley sea turtle is one of the smallest sea turtles, measuring about 60-70 cm in carapace (shell) length. It is the most abundant sea turtle, and it nests along the 256 km of Guatemala’s pacific coastline from July to December. Olive Ridley sea turtle performs a phenomenon called arribada where thousands of individuals come ashore at once to nest.
Olive Ridley Sea Turtle
Its name is tied to the color of its shell, an olive green tone.
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Leatherback Sea Turtle
It is the largest and heaviest of all living sea turtles, growing up to 2.7 mt and heaving up to 1000 kg.
Leatherback sea turtle can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell. Instead, its carapace is covered by skin and oily flesh which allows them to dive greater depths than any other sea turtle (up to 1000 mt). It is estimated that only a small quantity of nesting Leatherbacks return to Guatemala between November and February. Leatherback turtles subsist almost entirely on jellyfish. Due to their obligate feeding nature, leatherback turtles help control jellyfish populations.
Hawksbill Sea Turtle
This specie is infrequently in Guatemala due to the beauty their shell which is used to make jewelry and handicraft.
The hawksbill sea turtle is a critically endangered sea turtle, it can grow and weight up to 1 m and 80 kg. Hawksbills eat sea sponges which are the principal food constituting the 70-95% of their diet.
